Scottish Executive

Asylum Seekers

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to making representations to Her Majesty’s Government about the proposal by the Refugee Scotland Project that open door hostel accommodation should be developed as an alternative to detention at Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre which would also allow the children of asylum seekers to attend local schools.

Ms Margaret Curran: Asylum and immigration matters, including the detention of asylum seekers, are reserved. The Home Office is responsible for considering the suitability of alternatives to accommodation in Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre. Useful discussions between the Home Office and the Executive, South Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire on a range of issues affecting Dungavel are on-going.

Cancer

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it, or NHS Argyll and Clyde, will take to enhance the quality of breast cancer services in Renfrewshire.

Malcolm Chisholm: The current breast cancer service in Renfrewshire is working well. Two one stop multi-disciplinary breast clinics are established at Royal Alexandra Hospital. In addition an innovative appointment system developed in partnership with primary care has helped ensure that clinic waiting times are on average less than five days. There are no reported issues surrounding waiting times for surgery after a diagnosis of breast cancer.

  Any further areas for potential development, including for example benign breast disease surgery, will be taken forward within the context of the local cancer plan.

Cancer

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans for an external review of the Scottish and Newcastle Lymphoma Group.

Malcolm Chisholm: There are currently no plans to review the Scotland and Newcastle Lymphoma Group.

Cancer

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed alternative to the Scottish and Newcastle Lymphoma Group will be monitored with regard to the quality and consistency across Scotland of data and patient outcomes.

Malcolm Chisholm: On patients outcomes, the member should refer to my answer to question S2W-4335 on 8 December 2003. As far as quality of data is concerned, this is a matter for the Cancer Information Group of the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency who work with Scottish Cancer Managed Clinical Networks on this.

Cancer

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the proposed alternative to the Scottish and Newcastle Lymphoma Group will monitor the quality of diagnosis and appropriateness of patient treatment.

Malcolm Chisholm: Yes. Scottish cancer managed clinical networks are bound by the terms of NHS HDL(2002)69 and NHS HDL (2001) 71, both of which require continuous assessment of and improvements in the quality of care provided for patients.

Central Heating

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3050 by Mrs Mary Mulligan on 29 October 2003, whether the £40 charge towards the cost of another inspection of their central heating system acts as a disincentive to pensioners lodging legitimate appeals against the decision of specialist surveyors.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I asked my officials to investigate this matter to ensure that the system was not discouraging legitimate appeals against the decisions made from the first heating survey. I am pleased to say that Eaga Partnership have agreed to absorb the charge and they will now cover the full cost of a second inspection as part of their appeals process.

Central Heating

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance is given to local authorities and housing associations regarding offering solid fuel central heating systems to tenants.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  No recent guidance has been issued to local authorities and housing associations in relation to offering solid fuel central heating systems to tenants. Specification information relating to solid fuel installations was issued when the programme was introduced, but our preference is to opt for more efficient systems, which use gas or electricity.

Central Heating

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it offers assistance for the installation of solid fuel central heating systems in homes and, if so, what grants are available.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: I have asked Angiolina Foster, the Acting Chief Executive of Communities Scotland to respond. Her response is as follows:

  We do offer assistance for the installation of solid fuel central heating systems. Central heating is provided free of charge to all those over 60 in the private sector who currently have no central heating, or have a system which is broken beyond repair. Local authorities and registered social landlords are also being funded to install central heating in all their properties where that facility is not currently available. Most installations, however, use gas or electricity and the average cost across all types of central heating installations is in the region of £2,500.

Community Wardens

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the remit of community wardens will be; what the total cost of their employment will be per annum; what job requirements they will have to fulfil; what their relationship with the police will be, and what the requirements for recruitment will be.

Ms Margaret Curran: The information requested is given in Building Strong, Safe and Attractive Communities : Guidance for Submissions , published by Astron in 2003, copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 28543). The Scottish Executive is providing £10 million per annum in 2004-05 and 2005-06 towards the cost of employing community wardens across Scotland.

Dentistry

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-926 by Mr Tom McCabe on 15 July 2003, how many NHS dental examinations were undertaken by the general and community dental services in 2002-03.

Mr Tom McCabe: In 2002-03 there were 2,213,262 NHS dental examinations undertaken by the general dental service and 124,453 NHS dental examinations undertaken by the community dental service.

Drug Courts

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have appeared before drugs courts since their establishment, broken down by gender and drug court.

Hugh Henry: During the first two years of the Glasgow Drugs Court pilot (October 2001 to end October 2003) there were 162 referrals (150 males and 12 females). Ninety eight offenders received drugs court orders (89 males and nine females).

  During the first year of Fife drugs court pilot (August 2002 to end July 2003) there were 399 referrals. (338 males and 61 females). One hundred and nine offenders received drugs court orders (95 males and 14 females).

Drug Misuse

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive by how much it expects the number of drug addicts to increase or decrease in the next (a) five and (b) 10 years and how it arrives at such forecasts.

Hugh Henry: The Scottish Executive does not make forecasts of this type. However, it has undertaken to carry out national prevalence work on a regular basis to inform policy and practice and to monitor trends over time.

  The first national prevalence study was undertaken in 2000 and the results can be accessed at http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/local/Prevalence.pdf. The study for 2003 is currently under way and will produce estimates of numbers of problem drug users at both national and local level. The study is due to report in August 2004.

Elections

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will implement the recommendations in the Electoral Commission’s report Scottish Elections 2003 – The official report on the Scottish Parliament and local government elections 1 May 2003 .

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will pursue any of the matters raised in the Electoral Commission’s report Scottish Elections 2003 – The official report on the Scottish Parliament and local government elections 1 May 2003 directly with local authorities.

Tavish Scott: We are currently considering the recommendations made by the Electoral Commission in respect of local government elections and will respond to these in due course.

Elections

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether representations will be made to Her Majesty's Government about changing the system of funding elections.

Tavish Scott: The Scottish Executive has devolved responsibility for matters relating to local government elections but has no function in relation to the funding of parliamentary elections.

Elections

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether performance-related pay is being considered for Returning Officers and, if so, what the criteria would be for defining a successful election.

Tavish Scott: Local government election costs are met by local authorities. Performance-related pay for Returning Officers would therefore be a matter for individual councils. Funding of parliamentary elections is a matter for the UK Government.

Europe

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many EU working group meetings have been attended by its (a) ministers and (b) officials in each year since 1999, expressed also as a percentage of total EU working group meetings in each year.

Mr Andy Kerr: European union working groups are for officials; ministers do not attend these meetings. Details of attendance by Scottish Executive officials at working groups since 1999 is set out in the table.

  

 Year
 Number of Working 
  Groups
 Number Attended 
  by Officials
 %



 1999 (from 1 July)
 1,566
 32
 2.04


 2000
 2,147
 67
 3.12


 2001
 3,537
 90
 2.54


 2002
 4,216
 85
 2.02


 2003 (to 30 June)
 2,147
 72
 3.35


 Total
 13,613
 346
 2.54



  The total number of working groups includes a substantial proportion where there is no devolved interest. Scottish Executive officials only attend working groups where devolved business is on the agenda and Scotland is represented at all working group meetings as part of the United Kingdom delegation.

Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3840 by Malcolm Chisholm on 18 November 2003, why the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency is working with vaccine manufacturers to make every effort to remove or reduce the thiomersal component in vaccines and what advice the agency has issued to the Minister for Health and Community Care regarding its actions.

Malcolm Chisholm: There is strong evidence to suggest that thiomersal in vaccines does not cause any harm (except for skin rashes or local swelling at the site of injection). Despite this, and as part of a global goal to reduce exposure to mercury from avoidable sources in general, the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products (EMEA) has recommended that vaccine manufacturers phase out use of thiomersal wherever possible as a purely precautionary measure .  The Committee on Safety of Medicines endorses this recommendation. As the body responsible for the safety of all medicines available on the UK market, the medicines and health care products regulatory agency is working with vaccine manufacturers to implement the EMEA recommendations.

Health

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average reporting time in days has been for laboratories to process breast screening results in each of the last four years, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information about the reporting times for breast screening results is not collected centrally. This is a matter for the six breast screening centres. Contact details for the breast screening centres can be obtained from the National Services Division, Common Services Agency on 0131 625 6247.

  The NHS Quality Improvement Scotland report on breast screening, which was released on 24 November, noted that there were delays at some centres in women receiving their screening result. The national services division will be considering with the service the development of appropriate IT system enhancements to allow this data to be more easily accessible in the future which will assist the centres to monitor their performance.

Justice

Brian Adam (Aberdeen North) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have been charged with drink-driving offences in each month in the last three years.

Cathy Jamieson: The statistics available centrally are compiled on an annual basis. The latest available data on drink-driving offences proceeded against are given in Table 20 of the Scottish Executive statistical bulletin Criminal Proceedings in Scottish Courts , 2001 , copies of which are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 25720).

Local Government Finance

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it takes if a local authority does not allocate and prioritise its expenditure in line with Executive objectives and targets.

Mr Andy Kerr: I refer the member to the answer given to question S2W-3491 on 17 November 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Local Government Finance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the introduction of a local sales tax will be considered within the proposed review of local government finance.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the introduction of a local income tax will be considered within the proposed review of local government finance.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the introduction of a capital value related property tax will be considered within the proposed review of local government finance.

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a feasibility study of land value taxation will be included within the review of local government finance.

Mr Andy Kerr: We are discussing the remit of the review with COSLA. We will announce our conclusions in due course.

Midwifery

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many student midwives are undertaking their final year of study.

Malcolm Chisholm: There are approximately 200 student midwives currently in their final year of training.

Midwifery

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on students graduating in midwifery last year who have not found full-time employment as midwives.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally. However the One Year Guarantee Scheme was put in place to ensure that all newly qualifying nurses and midwives could obtain employment in NHSScotland if they wished. By April 2003 no midwives were registered on the scheme suggesting that all who wished to had secured employment.

Multiple Sclerosis

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people there are with multiple sclerosis (MS), broken down by local authority area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information is not available centrally in the form requested. Information from samples of GP records in practices across Scotland whose population is nationally representative suggests that approximately 5,900 patients with multiple sclerosis were seen by GPs in the year ended March 2003. However, the Executive recognises that this may be an underestimate. People with the relapsing/remitting form of MS may not need to visit their GPs in the course of any given year. The MS Society Scotland estimates that there are over 10,000 people with MS in Scotland.

Multiple Sclerosis

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it provides guidance to NHS boards on the provision of services to people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Malcolm Chisholm: The Executive issued guidance to NHS boards in 2002 about the risk sharing scheme, which makes available disease-modifying drugs to MS patients, assessed as suitable for treatment. There has been good progress in implementing this scheme. We are also funding the development of a managed care network in Forth Valley for people with MS, which includes standards for services in primary care and in hospital, endorsed by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. We wish to see these MS networks developed across Scotland.

Multiple Sclerosis

Dr Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards provide specialist nursing services to patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and what funding it makes available to assist with this provision.

Malcolm Chisholm: The following NHS boards provide specialist nursing services to patients with multiple sclerosis: NHS Ayrshire and Arran; NHS Fife; NHS Forth Valley; NHS Grampian; NHS Greater Glasgow; NHS Highland; NHS Lanarkshire; NHS Lothian; NHS Tayside.

  No specific funding is made available for the provision of specialist MS nurses. However, the Executive has committed some £10 million to a number of nursing recruitment and retention initiatives over the financial years 2002-03 and 2003-04, and some £1.75 million additional funding has been allocated for the continuous professional development of nurses. This is on top of NHS boards receiving an average increase in their financial allocations for 2003-04 of 7.8%.

  I have asked my officials to raise the issue of provision of specialist MS nurse capacity with the relevant boards.

Museums and Galleries

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to ensure the future viability of the Scottish Maritime Museum.

Mr Frank McAveety: The Executive is responsible only for the National Institutions. Independent museums are the responsibility of the trustees. Continued support for the Scottish Maritime Museum from the strategic change fund at current levels beyond its expiry in March 2003 will be contingent on a management plan to ensure the conservation of certain items of maritime heritage at present in the care of the trustees. The development of such a plan is being discussed with the trustees.

Museums and Galleries

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-1429 by Mr Frank McAveety on 6 August 2003, when the action plan for Scotland’s museums and galleries will be published.

Mr Frank McAveety: An Action Framework for Museums - Consultation and Response was published on 22 August 2003. Copies are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 28833).

NHS Waiting Times

Mr Bruce McFee (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average waiting time is for a patient requiring knee replacement surgery within NHS Argyll and Clyde (a) in an NHS hospital and (b) on the NHS in a private hospital.

Malcolm Chisholm: Provisional information for the year ended 30 September 2003 shows that the median waiting time for knee joint replacement surgery (undertaken in NHS and contracted private sector hospitals) in Argyll and Clyde NHS board area of residence, was 243 days. Due to data recording difficulties currently being experienced in NHS Argyll and Clyde, it is not possible to provide separate waiting times information for patients treated in NHS and contracted private sector hospitals.

  There are particular UK-wide pressures in the specialty of orthopaedics due to difficulties in matching demand and capacity. Since September 2002, we have made over £9 million available to NHSScotland to speed up treatment for patients awaiting hip or knee joint replacement surgery. This will also help ensure delivery of the nine months national maximum waiting time for in-patient and day case treatment, including knee replacement surgery, from the end of this year.

National Health Service

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive on what evidence or research the Information and Statistics Division bases the statistics that it provides to drug action teams to inform their service provision planning.

Hugh Henry: The sources of the national and local drug misuse statistics which are provided annually to Drug Action Teams by the Information and Statistics Division of the Common Services Agency (ISD Scotland) to inform service planning are available at:

  http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/dat/cap/dat.htm.

National Health Service

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many statistical bulletins it has published in each year since 1999 and, of these, how many indicated that the information within them was not fully comparable with previous years, broken down by subject.

Mr Andy Kerr: The information presented gives the number of statistical publications released by the Scottish Executive statistical group via its website.

  

 Year
 Number of Publications


 1999
 78


 2000
 83


 2001
 119


 2002
 143


 2003 (part year to 25 November 
  03)
 119



  Changes in statistical series can occur for a variety of reasons including revisions to data collection methods, improvements to analytical methodologies, adjustments to the dissemination process and updating of policy priorities. The statistical group works to ensure that if past series are revised, that the changes are fully and clearly identified to users. The statistical group does not hold information on the number of series that are not comparable over time.

National Health Service

Shona Robison (Dundee East) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many publications have been issued by the Information and Statistics Division (ISD) regarding the NHS in each year since 1999, and, of these, how many indicated that the information within them was not fully comparable with previous years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information and Statistics Division issues over 30 quarterly or annual national statistics releases and a large number of other publications containing health statistics each year, providing information on a wide range of topics about the NHS and the health of people in Scotland. Most of these releases are published electronically on ISD’s website at www.isdscotland.org.

  In accordance with good statistical practice ISD seeks to highlight in each release any changes in the underlying data, organisational changes affecting how the statistics are presented, or changes in the selection of statistics published. Key factors which have changed the statistics published by ISD since 1999 and in doing so affected comparability with previous years include:

  Legislative changes in ophthalmic services in 1999.

  Changing service provision in hospitals whereby some surgical operations/procedures are now carried out in out-patients, where previously they would have involved day case treatment.

  Changes in the way waiting lists/times are classified and improved coverage in response to the Audit Scotland report on waiting (2002) and my decision to abolish the Deferred Waiting List from April 2003.

  Improvements made to the national statistical return that collects information on people attending services for drug problems.

  There will have been other minor improvements to definitions since 1999 that might make some figures not strictly comparable. However, searching through the thousands of pages of material to quantify this would incur disproportionate cost.

National Health Service

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-926 by Mr Tom McCabe on 15 July 2003, how many sight tests (a) were undertaken on the NHS and (b) were estimated to be undertaken privately in 2002-03.

Mr Tom McCabe: In 2002-03 there were 906,600 sight tests undertaken on the NHS. It is estimated that around 450,000 sight tests were undertaken privately.

National Health Service

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance has been issued to NHS boards on the lead commissioner of children’s services role identified in For Scotland’s Children under "Planning and Priorities Guidance 1999/2000", and whether such guidance will be reviewed in light of the report into the death of Caleb Ness.

Malcolm Chisholm: Guidance on the role of the Child Health Commissioner was issued to NHS boards in A Template for Child Health Services within Unified NHS Board areas , published in June 2001. We will consider the need to revise this guidance in the context of our work with NHS boards to take forward a range of actions in the light of the report into the death of Caleb Ness.

National Health Service

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, within each children’s services planning area, services are led jointly by a senior member of the relevant council and a senior figure from the NHS, as referred to in Action Point 1 of For Scotland’s Children .

Malcolm Chisholm: All areas now have in place local arrangements for planning joint services for children and young people. These should involve not only the council and NHS, but other relevant interests, including, the police, Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration and voluntary sector. We are revising the guidance to local agencies on children’s services planning and will issue this next year ahead of the next round of children’s services plans. The guidance is being developed in light of experience since publication of For Scotland’s Children , and will re-emphasise the agenda it set.

  Every NHS board has a designated Child Health Commissioner to work closely with other agencies to address the needs of children.

National Health Service

Fiona Hyslop (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when each lead commissioner of children’s services was appointed in each NHS board, as referred to in For Scotland’s Children .

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not held centrally.

New Opportunities Fund

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the New Opportunities Fund to announce the spending of the remaining £4.5 million in its "better off" programme.

Mr Tom McCabe: This is a matter for the New Opportunities Fund, which can be contacted at 33 Bothwell Street, Glasgow G2 6NL.

Non-Domestic Rates

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated annual cost would be of abolishing business rates in terms of loss of revenue.

Mr Andy Kerr: £1.731 billion (mid-year estimate) was raised from non-domestic rates in the current financial year. In previous years the amount has been:

  

 Year
 Amount


 1996-97
 £1.332 billion 
  (certified amount)


 1997-98
 £1.327 billion 
  (certified amount)


 1998-99
 £1.436 billion 
  (certified amount)


 1999-2000
 £1.497 billion 
  (certified amount)


 2000-01
 £1.577 billion 
  (certified amount)


 2001-02
 £1.673 billion 
  (certified amount)


 2002-03
 £1.705 billion 
  (notified amount)

Osteoporosis

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for (a) non-urgent and (b) urgent scans for osteoporosis in each NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not available centrally.

Planning

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the reasons were for not calling in for determination planning application 03/765/DC relating to the proposed development at 66 Great George Street and 62 Cecil Street, Glasgow.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: In circumstances such as this, when the Scottish ministers are not determining a planning application, a detailed report of their assessment is not issued. However, as a broad indication of the considerations that led to the decision, I can advise that the Scottish ministers were satisfied that no national issues arose which were sufficiently significant to warrant their intervention.

Planning

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will announce its decision on regeneration proposals for the Ravenscraig site.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: An Alteration to the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Structure Plan, which sets the strategic planning policy context for retail development within a new town centre at Ravenscraig, was approved by the Scottish ministers on 24 November.

  The Scottish ministers advised North Lanarkshire Council, on 26 November, that they were free to deal with the planning application for redevelopment of the former Ravenscraig Steelworks as they saw fit. It is now for North Lanarkshire Council to decide whether to grant planning permission.

Planning

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has considered initiating a public inquiry in relation to the proposed development at the Ravenscraig site.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: The Scottish ministers considered whether a public local inquiry would be appropriate to assess the proposals for the redevelopment of the former Ravenscraig Steelworks site, but concluded that this was not necessary in this instance.

  Accordingly, an Alteration to the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Structure Plan, which sets the strategic planning policy context for retail development within a new town centre at Ravenscraig, was approved by the Scottish ministers on 24 November.

  The Scottish ministers also advised North Lanarkshire Council, on 26 November, that they were free to deal with the planning application for redevelopment of the former Ravenscraig steelworks site as they saw fit. It is now for North Lanarkshire Council to decide whether to grant planning permission.

Planning

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received in respect of the proposed development at the Ravenscraig site.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Representations received, and the Scottish ministers’ comments thereon, are summarised in the Annex to the Scottish Executive’s letter of 24 November 2003, which announced the Scottish ministers’ decision to approve the Alteration to the Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Structure Plan relating to Ravenscraig. A copy of that letter has been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

Planning

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact assessments have been carried out on the impact on existing towns in Lanarkshire of the proposed development at the Ravenscraig site.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Retail impact assessments were carried out on behalf of the applicants for the redevelopment of the Ravenscraig site and North Lanarkshire Council.

Regeneration

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S1W-34650 and S2W-1578 by Ms Margaret Curran on 26 March and 18 August 2003, when an announcement will now be made in relation to the £16 million funding for accelerating land renewal in Glasgow and North Lanarkshire, as referred to in Building Better Cities - Delivering Growth and Opportunities .

Ms Margaret Curran: Detailed guidelines for the operation of the vacant and derelict land fund are currently being developed through a local stakeholders group involving representatives from the local partnerships (i.e. the local council, Communities Scotland and the local enterprise company) for the three areas covered by the fund. Each of the local partnerships will be invited to submit proposals under those guidelines and allocations will be made on the basis of the appraisal of the proposals.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3369 by Ross Finnie on 5 November 2003, how long it took to issue the abatement notice and for Scottish Water to respond.

Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water and I have asked him to write to you about this matter.

  It is unlikely he will be able to comment about the timescale for issue of the abatement notice since this was the responsibility of the local authority concerned.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-25452 by Ross Finnie on 10 May 2002, whether responsibility for completing the Katrine Water project will transfer to Scottish Water Solutions Ltd.

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3274 by Ross Finnie on 7 November 2003, whether Scottish Water’s consultation code, required under section 28 of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002, will apply to the activities of Scottish Water Solutions Ltd.

Ross Finnie: As my answer to question S1W-25452 indicated, this is an operational matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water and I have asked him to write to you about this matter.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3274 by Ross Finnie on 7 November 2003, whether the requirements in sections 50 and 51 of the Water Industry (Scotland) Act 2002 will apply to Scottish Water Solutions Ltd.

Ross Finnie: Yes.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3273 by Ross Finnie on 3 November 2003, whether the results of the benchmarking exercise of Scottish Water Solutions Ltd’s projects against industry best practice will be made public.

Ross Finnie: As my answer to question S2W-3273 indicated, this is an operational matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water and I have asked him to write to you about this matter.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3273 by Ross Finnie on 3 November 2003, what mechanism has been established for controlling the spend on delivering Scottish Water’s capital programme.

Ross Finnie: The Executive agreed the total level of investment required in Quality and Standards II, the revenue caps for total charges and the borrowing levels. We then monitor Scottish Water’s expenditure (including capital spend) on a monthly basis against these.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3273 by Ross Finnie on 3 November 2003, what key performance indicators have been established by Scottish Water.

Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for the board of Scottish Water and I have asked them to write to you about this matter.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-30767 by Ross Finnie on 12 November 2002, when it expects (a) construction and (b) commissioning of the new water plant at Milngavie reservoir to be completed.

Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water and I have asked him to write to you about this matter.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3270 by Ross Finnie on 3 November 2003, what the five delivery models identified by Scottish Water were.

Ross Finnie: As my reply to question S2W-3270 indicated, this is an operational matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water and I have asked him to write to you about this matter.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3306 by Ross Finnie on 3 November 2003, whether a community consultation was undertaken during the development of Scottish Water’s sustainable development action plan and, if so, what method was used.

Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for Scottish Water. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to you.

Scottish Water

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W- 22913 by Ross Finnie on 22 February 2002, what costs are accruing to Scottish Water due to any delays in the commencement of construction of the Katrine Water project.

Ross Finnie: This is an operational matter for the Chief Executive of Scottish Water and I have asked him to write to you about this matter.

Skye Bridge

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what advantage will accrue to taxpayers and the residents of Skye and Lochalsh by not specifying the sum outstanding on the Skye Bridge contract that remains to be collected through tolling by the concessionaire.

Nicol Stephen: We are currently examining in detail all of the financial information relating to the Skye Bridge project. This information, and the detailed terms of the contract itself, are now the subject of commercially confidential negotiations with Skye Bridge Limited, with a view to ending the discredited toll regime for the Skye Bridge.

Skye Bridge

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what elements of financial devaluation are applied to every £100 collected at the Skye Bridge tollbooths for every year of operation of the tolling concession before the residual sum is applied as a credit against the total debt of £23.64 million stated on the licence.

Nicol Stephen: We are currently examining in detail all of the financial information relating to the Skye Bridge project. This information, and the detailed terms of the contract itself, are now the subject of commercially confidential negotiations with Skye Bridge Limited, with a view to ending the discredited toll regime for the Skye Bridge.

Skye Bridge

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when current forecasts predict that the assigned licence total of £23.64 million in respect of the Skye Bridge will be met.

Nicol Stephen: We are currently examining in detail all of the financial information relating to the Skye Bridge project. This information, and the detailed terms of the contract itself, are now the subject of commercially confidential negotiations with Skye Bridge Limited, with a view to ending the discredited toll regime for the Skye Bridge.

Skye Bridge

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide a schedule that compares for every year since inception of the tolling licence the gross toll receipts and the discounted value of those receipts used to reduce the outstanding balance.

Nicol Stephen: We are currently examining in detail all of the financial information relating to the Skye Bridge project. This information, and the detailed terms of the contract itself, are now the subject of commercially confidential negotiations with Skye Bridge Limited, with a view to ending the discredited toll regime for the Skye Bridge.

Social Justice

Linda Fabiani (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the social justice annual report of 2003 will be published; how it will differ from the annual report of 2002, and what time period it will cover.

Ms Margaret Curran: We will shortly publish updated data on the social justice milestones. It will cover the period from the relevant baseline years to the most up-to-date data available.

Social Work

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to address the current shortfall in social workers.

Euan Robson: We have introduced a number of measures to complement the action plan instigated last year. These include a fast-track scheme for 120 graduates to train as social workers within 15-18 months, an incentive scheme for eligible social work graduates to work in priority areas, grants to relevant employers towards the cost of student practice placements, a new Framework for Social Work Education, including a new four-year honours degree, a leadership training initiative for 200 first line and middle managers, specific grant to local authorities for training in the current year and an additional £9 million over the next three years for the same purpose. We have also provided £1.22 million to create the Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education, developing new approaches to learning and ensuring that training in the new degree equips new workers to be confident in their knowledge and skills and to work effectively with other professionals.

  As well as our on-going recruitment and awareness campaign, we are campaigning specifically to encourage school-leavers to take advantage of the new degree. In addition, I am chairing a national workforce group to develop a workforce action plan that will be supported by three working groups. One will be responsible for producing a national education, training and development strategy, the second for improving workforce information and intelligence and the third will support recruitment and retention, human resource management and organisational development across the sector. These groups will have substantial impact on helping this valuable workforce achieve the improvements we all seek.

Travellers

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive,  further to the answer to question S2W-3951 by Margaret Curran on 20 November 2003, how many sites were provided by local authorities and available for use by gypsies and travelling people in (a) 1997 and (b) 2002.

Ms Margaret Curran: The number of sites provided by local authorities in 1997 for gypsies and travellers was 35. By the end of 2002, two new sites had been built. Two sites had in practice been closed.

  Information on the availability of pitches at individual sites is provided in twice yearly counts of gypsies-travellers which have been undertaken since 1998. Copies of the reports setting out the result of the counts are available in Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre.